Through 50 minutes, Tuesday’s game was reminiscent of all too many Oilers performances this season. Edmonton started slowly, with the Minnesota Wild jumping out to a 3-0 lead and holding a two goal edge through the second and into the halfway point of the third.

But the Oilers fought back. David Perron, who had been excellent all game, scored a goal to narrow the deficit to one. Andrew Ference picked up the primary assist on that one and the next, hammering the puck from centre ice and creating a rebound that Jordan Eberle cashed in. Both Perron and Eberle added shootout goals, and Taylor Hall – another forward enjoying a strong game – potted the winner in the skills competition.

It wasn’t a particularly good win, but it was one where Edmonton didn’t go away and improved as the game wore on.

Player Grades

The following are the player grades for the Oilers, with 10 being a “perfect” game, 9 extraordinary, 8 great, 7 good, 6 above average, 5 average, 4 below average, 3 poor, 2 terrible and 1 deserving of almost instant demotion. Compiled by Jonathan Willis.

#2 Jeff Petry, 5. Petry set up a Jordan Eberle shot in his first shift of the game, collecting a sloppy Minnesota pass in the neutral zone and carrying the puck into the Wild end. He was partially to blame on the Wild’s first goal, as he got left alone to face a Minnesota two-on-one but wasn’t able to block a pass. Petry got that back and then some by scoring Edmonton’s first goal of the game, making a pass to the front of the net that redirected off the skate of Wild defenceman Jonas Brodin. He made a bad defensive zone turnover early in the game’s final period, finishing the game with a lone giveaway. It wasn’t a banner game for Petry but he kept his head above water overall.

#4 Taylor Hall, 7. Hall recorded a minor penalty just under halfway through the first period, taking a holding minor as he battled with Jared Spurgeon in the offensive zone, and the Wild were able to take a 1-0 lead on the ensuing power play. He didn’t get an assist on the Oilers’ second goal, but did make the neutral zone steal to initially establish possession of the puck and made the subsequent zone entry, too. Hall had a great shift roughly halfway through the overtime period that resulted in two good chances: one for him and one for Martin Marincin. He kept a strong game going into the shootout, scoring the winning goal as the home crowd booed.

#5 Mark Fraser, 5. Fraser drew a penalty early in the second period, with Charlie Coyle taking a minor for holding his stick. He looked remarkably okay in 21-odd minutes, many of them against good players.

#6 Jesse Joensuu, 4. Joensuu started the game strongly, pouncing on a bobbled puck in the offensive zone. He got a chance to take possession of a bouncing puck on Minnesota’s second goal against but he couldn’t handle it.

#14 Jordan Eberle, 7. Eberle played a contributing role in Minnesota’s third goal, losing a battle with Mikael Granlund for the puck along the boards, and allowing the Wild to generate first a good chance and then a goal a moment later. He earned an assist on the Oilers’ first goal, and actually started the play off with a neutral zone steal. He bettered that in the third period, scoring the desperately needed tying goal for the Oilers that forced overtime. His scoring for the night ended in the shootout, where Eberle made beating Darcy Kuemper look easy.

#19 Justin Schultz, 4. Schultz had the misfortune of having Minnesota’s second goal redirect off his leg and past Viktor Fasth. He had a terrible giveaway at the start of Edmonton’s second power play that created a two-on-one and led to two Minnesota chances. Schultz made a great play after being left to face a two-on-one with six minutes left in the third; he went down and blocked a pass to prevent a chance against.

#20 Luke Gazdic, 4. Gazdic seemingly spent most of his four-odd minutes of ice-time pinned in his own end of the rink.

#21 Andrew Ference, 7. Ference bailed out his young partner Oscar Klefbom on their first shift together, blocking a dangerous shot, but he couldn’t block the follow-up which was put off the post. He contributed on Minnesota’s third goal, as he was unable to stop a pass from behind the net. Ference picked up a primary assist on the Oilers’ second goal, as David Perron directed his pass into the Minnesota net. He got another one on the 3-3 goal, fooling Darcy Kuemper and then firing a long shot that led to a sloppy rebound, one which Jordan Eberle was able to cash in on. It was a pretty good game for the Oilers’ captain, who did a nice job of covering for his partner early.

#23 Matt Hendricks, 3. Hendricks mishandled a pass from Mark Fraser off a defensive zone faceoff win, and the result was a turnover to the Wild at the Oilers’ blue line – and ultimately a Wild goal. He took a delay of game minor in the last minute of the third period, flipping the puck over the glass. It was one of his weaker games since joining Edmonton.

#27 Boyd Gordon, 4. Gordon got a chance to bump the puck clear on Minnesota’s second goal shortly after the Hendricks turnover but he couldn’t get it out of the zone. He did a nice job on the Wild’s second period five-on-three, making an essential clear that allowed two players to change. A rare off night in the faceoff circle saw him win nine draws and lose 14.

#28 Ryan Jones, 4. Jones made a diving play in the last minute of the second period which may have saved a goal after a terrible shift by the entire fourth line. As with Gazdic, Jones spent his rare shifts mostly pinned in the defensive zone.

#35 Viktor Fasth, 7. Fasth’s first Oilers game didn’t start very well, but that wasn’t really his fault as the team defence collapsed in the initial period. Fasth was beat by a double deflection and on two plays where he made big initial stops. He shut the door the rest of the way, most notably late in the third period on a point blank chance.

#57 David Perron, 8. Perron had the Oilers’ first real scoring chance, putting the puck wide in front of the net just under seven minutes into the game. He showed some real jump immediately following Minnesota’s 1-0 goal, stealing a puck in the offensive zone. Even his middling plays early worked out well; he took a nonthreatening shot on an offensive zone rush late in the first and it ended up with a dangerous mess in front of the Wild net. That changed in the second when the Wild got the best chance of Edmonton’s first power play as a puck went by Perron along the boards to create a Minnesota two-on-one. He had a solid chance (a rarity for Edmonton in this game) near the halfway mark of the third period, firing a backhand that Darcy Kuemper was able to stop; he had another a few minutes later in front of the net on the cycle. Topped off a solid evening with a shootout goal.

#64 Nail Yakupov, 5. Yakupov and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins crisscrossed in the neutral zone on Minnesota’s third goal, with neither providing any challenge to the Wild as they advanced into Edmonton’s zone. He was involved in the offensive zone shift leading up to the Oilers’ first goal. Yakupov drew a penalty at the tail end of Edmonton’s first power play, giving the team consecutive man advantages.

#84 Oscar Klefbom, 4. Klefbom had a shot on his first touch of the puck in the NHL, but on the same shift got overly aggressive in his own end, allowing a great Wild scoring chance. He gave the puck away on his next shift, leading to another good Minnesota chance. His third shift saw him beat by Charlie Coyle but the Wild forward lost the handle on the puck. He got burned later in his first NHL period, proving unable to handle a Wild attacker in front of the net on Minnesota’s third goal. Klefbom drew a minor penalty in the second period for interference. He did pick up a point in his first NHL game, a fairly bogus second assist on Jordan Eberle’s 3-3 goal. Overall, he had a wretched first half of the game followed by a much better second half.

#85 Martin Marincin, 5. Marincin was largely at fault on Minnesota’s first goal, abandoning the front of the net for a journey to the far boards and leaving defence partner Jeff Petry alone to handle the Wild attack; he proved incapable of doing so. He came awfully close to his first NHL goal in the overtime period, driving hard and intelligently to the net.

#89 Sam Gagner, 6. Gagner had a brutal giveaway in the last five minutes of the second period, just a lazy pass to the centre of the ice in his own end that landed on a Wild stick. He earned a second assist on the Oilers’ second goal of the game. A hit from Minnesota forward Matt Cooke in the final minute of the third seemed to result in a mild knee injury; he needed to be helped off the ice but returned to the game. He was the only Oilers shooter to fall short in the shootout., getting pokechecked by the Minnesota goaltender.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 3. Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov crisscrossed in the neutral zone on Minnesota’s third goal, with neither providing any challenge to the Wild as they advanced into Edmonton’s zone. He was involved in the offensive zone shift leading up to the Oilers’ first goal and helped create some chaos in front of the net; he earned an assist on that marker. He had a bad turnover in the defensive zone early in the second period and then took a minor penalty for hooking later in the same frame after a defensive brain cramp. It was a decidedly weak game for Edmonton’s best centre.

#94 Ryan Smyth, 4. Smyth had a steal in the offensive zone on his first shift but wasn’t able to create anything out of it. His next shift was less impressive, as the fourth line got penned in the Oilers zone and Smyth wasn’t able to block a pass out of the corner (as he covered for Mark Fraser), resulting in a good chance for the Wild. He had a nice scoring chance himself on the shift immediately following Minnesota’s 3-0 goal, but his next big contribution was a hooking penalty that gave Minnesota an extended five-on-three.

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